STATEMENT
BYHIS EXCELLENCY
MR. BABOUCARR-BLAISE ISMAILA JAGNE
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA
AT

THE 58TH SESSION OF THE
UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

UNITED
NATIONS, NEW YORK
29 SEPTEMBER 2003

Mr.
President,

Please allow me to present
to you, my delegation’s warmest congratulations on your election
to the high office of President of the General Assembly. I am sure that
your vast experience on the international scene will be brought to bear
on the work of this session and help direct it with ease to a successful
conclusion. The 58th Session promises to be rich in substance and may
also prove to be the watershed in our bid to make the United Nations responsive
to the needs of the peoples of the world in this new Millennium. I assure
you, Mr. President, of my delegation’s fullest cooperation in the
discharge of your onerous responsibility.

In the same vein, let me also
congratulate our out-going President, His Excellency Jan Kavan for his
laudable efforts during the 57th Session.

Our dynamic Secretary-General,
His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan also deserves commendation for another productive
year of service to our Organisation – a year that was fraught with
difficulties and incredible challenges. Thanks to his leadership, we have,
by and large, been able to weather the storm.

We were all devastated, however,
by the Baghdad bombing of the U.N. Headquarters, which claimed the lives
of so many people. May it never recur – please God, but it shows
that we must remain united in our resolve to fight terrorism. Let me seize
this opportunity to express once again to His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan
and his staff, as well as the relatives of the victims, the heartfelt
condolences of the people of The Gambia. We pay homage to Mr. Sergio Vieira
de Mello and his colleagues who lost their lives as we mourn the tragic
loss of a highly-acclaimed international civil servant in the hands of
terrorists. In wishing the injured a speedy recovery, we pray that the
souls of all those who died, rest in perfect peace. My delegation strongly
urges that this cowardly act should in no way weaken the resolve of the
United Nations in fulfilling its obligations to the people of Iraq.

Mr. President,

Resolution 1373 (2001) was
adopted unanimously by the Security Council following the September 11
attacks and the majority of member states, including my own, have embarked
on implementing its salient provisions. We have ratified the major international
instruments on terrorism and further enacted domestic legislation to implement
them. Let me state that in spite of our modest achievements in this regard,
international cooperation and technical assistance remain critical to
the success of our future implementation efforts.

The Counter-Terrorism Committee’s
Assistance Unit must strengthen the coordination of its technical assistance
portfolio in order to have greater impact. In this regard, we welcome
the G8’s commitment to providing capacity-building and technical
assistance to “priority countries”. The translation of declarations
of commitment into concrete action is the only guarantee of meaningful
headway to counter terrorism. Apart from the recent terrorist attacks
against the UN in Baghdad, other such incidents in Indonesia, Kenya, the
Russian Federation, Morocco and Saudi Arabia coming in the wake of 9-11
are reminders of the enormity of the tasks ahead.

Mr. President,

The 58th session of the United
Nations General Assembly convenes at a time when our approaches to the
management of global issues have come under sharp scrutiny. These issues,
Mr. President, are the unfinished business of the preceding millennium.
The United Nations, the premier, overarching venue for multilateralism,
cannot but be the only vehicle through which the world’s problems
of peace and security can be solved. The recent events in Afghanistan,
Iraq and elsewhere, only serve to underscore the need for the nations
of the world to strengthen - not weaken – multilateralism. We shall
never achieve global peace, security and prosperity without working together
in a forum such as the one provided by the United Nations – a forum
that is all-inclusive and which permits each and every nation –
big or small, rich or poor - to expound on matters of concern to them.
The ideals and principles that were the basis of the founding of this
Organization are as relevant today as they were fifty-eight years ago.
Let us, therefore, demonstrate our commitment to multilateralism by always
turning to the United Nations. My delegation therefore urges all member
states to maintain confidence in the U.N and to have recourse to the United
Nations for the peaceful resolution of conflicts and settlement of disputes.

Mr. President,

While terrorism poses a real
threat to international peace and security, other violent conflicts continue
to rage around the world, leaving death, destruction and desolation in
their wake. The situation in the Mano River Union remains volatile as
I speak. And even though former President Charles Taylor of Liberia has
left the scene as was required of him, and there appears to be some laudable
progress towards reinvigorating the democratic process in that country,
we should be under no illusion as to the extreme fragility of the situation
in Liberia and indeed within the West African sub-region. We commend all
the parties that recently signed the peace agreement in Accra, Ghana,
for their determination and patience, and urge them to do all in their
power to stay the course. This would also have a salutary effect on the
situation in neighbouring Sierra Leone where we note with satisfaction
the consolidation of the peace process.

The problem of conflicts in
West Africa continues, however, to be compounded by the illicit flow of
small arms and light weapons as well as the roving bands of mercenaries.
International efforts could serve the region best by developing comprehensive
disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation programmes that target
militias and are region-specific rather than country-specific. We must
endeavour to address the issue of the illicit trade in small arms and
light weapons with greater determination. An arrangement similar to the
Kimberley Process in blood diamonds is what is urgently required to effectively
stem the illicit flow of small arms and light weapons. My Government strongly
supports any measures that would treat as accomplices to war crimes and
crimes against humanity, those illegal brokers, who knowingly supply arms
and weapons to militias and other insurgents in West Africa. Conflict
zones elsewhere in Africa that tell a similar story, should also be assisted
in this manner.

We warmly congratulate our
brothers in the Sudan on the recent signing of the Naivaisha Peace Accord,
which promises to bring the long-drawn fratricidal conflict in that country,
to an end.

Mr. President,

My Government meanwhile, continues
to play its part in the search for solutions to the problems of peace
and security in Africa. We participate actively within the context of
the initiatives of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
to contribute to the sub-region’s collective efforts in this area.
My Government, under the wise leadership of President Jammeh, has, in
the past contributed, and will in the future, contribute to sub-regional
efforts to keep the peace in West Africa. We have continuously participated
in UNAMSIL since its inception. We stand ready to contribute our own modest
share to any other UN peacekeeping operations designed for the West Africa
sub-region as we are doing now under ECOMIL. In this regard, we welcome
the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1509 (2003), establishing
the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).

Mr. President,

I just made mention of the
unfinished businesses of the preceding millennium. These are thematic
issues of political exclusion, disenfranchisement, economic exclusion
and abject poverty. All affect the greater majority of humankind. They
also give rise to all the urgent situations that the world is faced with
today. Situations of conflict, civil strife, in short, the absence of
peace.

A peculiar situation of exclusion,
Mr. President, was created by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution
2758 on October 25th 1971. This relates to Taiwan, by ricochet. From 1949
to 1971, the ROC (Taiwan) was a bona fide member of the United Nations,
recognised by the Comity of Nations. If the ROC (Taiwan) could be a member
of the United Nations then, why could the ROC (Taiwan) not be a member
now? The General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758, which addressed only
the question of the representation of the People’s Republic of China
in the UN and related organisations. It did not decide, Mr. President,
that Taiwan is, or should be, a part of the People’s Republic of
China.

Nor did it confer on the People’s
Republic of China the right to represent the Republic of China (Taiwan)
or the twenty-three million Taiwanese people in the U.N and related organisations.
Resolution 2758 has since been misused to justify the exclusion of Taiwan
from the U.N. This runs counter to the claim by the Government of the
People’s Republic of China (PRC) that it represents the interests
of all Chinese, not to mention those Taiwanese who are in the Republic
of China (Taiwan).

I call upon the International
Community to revisit this issue urgently, if we are to comprehensively
deal with the problems engendered by exclusion, in whatever form that
it takes.

Mr. President,

My Government appreciates the
special attention that Guinea-Bissau has received from the Security Council,
especially through the Council’s Ad-hoc Working Group on Conflict
Prevention and Resolution in Africa. We also commend the remarkable efforts
of the ECOSOC’s Ad-hoc Advisory Group on Guinea-Bissau. As Chairperson
of the Group of Friends of Guinea-Bissau, my Government acknowledges the
groundswell of support and goodwill that Guinea-Bissau enjoys from this
Organization. Unfortunately, this has not yet been adequately translated
into material and financial forms of assistance, which the people of that
country so desperately need. The recent developments in Guinea-Bissau
should be seen not so much as a constraint, but rather as an opportunity
to re-engage the international community in partnership with the people
of Guinea-Bissau, in the resolution of their problems of governance and
development. Now that concerted efforts are being made by all the major
actors to agree on transitional arrangements for the preparation of Parliamentary
and Presidential elections in the not too distant future, we call on the
rest of the international community to provide the support necessary to
stabilize the situation and keep the process on course to a successful
outcome.

Mr. President,

Problems of security and peace
in my part of the world have not in any way diminished our concerns over
similar problems elsewhere. The people of Iraq and Afghanistan need urgent
international assistance to shore up security, re-establish the rule of
law and embark on an effective programme of reconstruction. My Government
welcomes the adoption of Security Council resolution 1500 (2003), in the
hope that the establishment of the Governing Council of Iraq will lead
towards a real political transition for the Iraqi people. While a speedy
end to the occupation of Iraq is both desirable and urgent, as clearly
underscored in Security Council Resolution 1472 (2003), outstanding issues
emanating from Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait should be comprehensively
dealt with once and for all.

Mr. President,

We continue to follow closely
the situation in the Middle-East and we deplore yet again the recent spate
of vicious attacks and counter-attacks between the Israelis and the Palestinians,
thus negating hope for an early settlement within the framework of the
Road Map. Trust and confidence-building measures must be reinforced and
made to attend to every stage of the implementation of the “Road
Map”, if the peace process is to endure. Suicide bombings that target
innocent civilians must be stopped. The occupation of Arab lands must
come to an end. In reiterating our position on the Arab-Israeli Conflict,
we call for the creation of an independent Palestinian State living in
peace along side the State of Israel.

Mr. President,

My Government firmly supports
the initiatives being taken to reduce tensions between India and Pakistan,
two great friends of The Gambia. We urge them both to reduce the arms
build-up on their respective sides of the border, and to strive harder
to reach a mutually acceptable solution to their differences in particular,
the issue of Kashmir.

Similarly in the Korean Peninsula
we reiterate our support for a peaceful reunification.

Mr. President,

Human security is not threatened
by conflicts alone. The HIV/AIDS scourge continues to be elusive and now
poses a serious threat to the viability of some societies in Africa. The
HIV/AIDS pandemic has slowly graduated from a health and humanitarian
issue to a development and security problem.

The pandemic has compounded
the problems African countries face in the fight against other scourges
such as malaria and tuberculosis. It is gratifying to note however, that
the international community is sensitized to this fact and that initiatives
such as the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis have been
put in place.

Consequently, more money, more
resources and more attention must be given to research and development.
Contributions to the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis
have slackened and developing countries are paying a colossal price in
human and material terms. The Global Alliance for Vaccines Initiative
(GAVI) equally requires adequate funding.

Mr. President,

The pursuit of justice and
international rule of law has never been so pressing as it is today. My
government strongly supports the International Criminal Court as it embarks
on its crucial mandate of delivering justice. We hail its progress so
far and I would like to seize this opportunity to call on all to cooperate
with the Court in order that, together all around the world, we can say
no to the culture of impunity.

Mr. President,

While still on the subject
of justice, let me reiterate my Government’s view that the sanctions
being imposed on Cuba should now be lifted. They are counter-productive
anyway. Cuba is a peace-loving member of the international community,
whose people do not deserve the punishment meted out to them for almost
four decades now.
Mr. President,

Let me now turn to development
issues.

In Africa, our efforts to achieve
sustainable development continue to be seriously undermined by a variety
of factors, prominent among which are conflicts, structural weaknesses,
natural disasters and diseases. For the international system to successfully
address these factors of underdevelopment, more serious attention must
be paid to the implementation of the Brussels Programme of Action for
Least Developed Countries, as well as to focus more attention on the attainment
of the Millennium Development Goals. We must also give effect to the commitments
made at Doha, Monterrey and Johannesburg. There is no shortage of blueprints
for development. What is in short supply and what needs to be urgently
mobilized are resources. So far, there is still a big gap between commitment
and action. Africa’s development partners must make good on their
pledges to support Africa’s development. My delegation welcomes
the Africa Action Plan of the G8, the African Growth and Opportunity Act
of the United States of America and the “Everything but Arms”
initiative of the European Union, all of which commit their owners to
well-defined forms of support to Africa’s development.

There are however, the many
barriers to the implementation of these initiatives, caused by certain
protectionist policies pursued by our partners, as well as other policy
and structural constraints. The problem of farm subsidies just will not
go away. Agricultural economies in our part of the world must be allowed
to compete if the global trading system is to function in favour of the
eradication of poverty. The debt issue is far from being resolved and
the procedures for accessing the benefits of the HIPC initiative are too
cumbersome for many poor countries to follow. The only realistic approach
to the debt problem as a major impediment to development, is to cancel
it unconditionally for the HIPC countries, as well as for the Low Income
Countries Under Stress (LICUS).

Mr. President,

We have just ended another
attempt at negotiations on world trade at Cancun. My delegation deeply
regrets the failure of the talks, as well as the fact that the developed
world could not see eye-to-eye with the Group of 21 on the issue of subsidies.
It is in our collective interest to dismantle global trade barriers and
allow markets to expand, for incomes to rise in the developing world and
poverty to be reduced. Stronger earning power in the developing world
would stimulate world trade in ways that would be most beneficial to the
rich countries. My delegation calls on all concerned to ensure that we
return to the negotiating table as soon as possible and with greater determination
on both sides to reach a just and fair agreement on all the issues.

Mr. President,

Official Development Assistance
still falls short of the internationally-agreed target of 0.7% of GDP.
We commend those countries – Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and
Sweden in particular- whose ODA has risen to that level. My delegation
urges all of Africa’s development partners to address these issues
with sincerity and commitment, with a view to meaningfully assisting in
kick-starting the sustainable human development process in African countries.

Mr. President,

It is gratifying to note that
the Human Development Report for 2003 is devoted to the Millennium Development
Goals. In this way, the fight against poverty is kept high on the International
Community’s Agenda because we still have a very long way to go.
For instance, as stated in the HDR, I quote:

“Regionally, at the current
pace sub-Saharan Africa would not reach the Goals for poverty until 2147
and for child mortality until 2165. And for HIV/AIDS and hunger, trends
in the region are heading up not down..”

It is indeed true that sub-Saharan
Africa is being left behind. This state of affairs is alarming, and as
the UNDP rightly stated, the MDGs will not be realized with a business
as usual approach. The paradox in our view, is the fact that while the
means to attain the MDGs are available, it would appear that the political
will is lacking. Let me again quote from the HDR:

“Today’s world
has greater resources and know-how than ever before to tackle the challenges
of infectious disease, low productivity, lack of clean energy and transport
and lack of basic services such as clean water, sanitation, schools and
healthcare. The issue is how best to apply these resources and know-how
to benefit the poorest people” End of quote.

In The Gambia, my Government’s
focus is on the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. The strategy
we have designed to this end is detailed in our Poverty Reduction Strategy
Paper (PRSP). In a resource-strapped economy such as The Gambia’s,
getting all the relevant indicators to perform well towards poverty reduction,
is a daunting challenge. It is however a challenge my Government is prepared
to take-up. Our special focus is on the empowerment of our people, and
we seek to do so by giving priority to our education, health and agricultural
sectors, as well as on building capacity among our womenfolk, who are
the architects of stable and strong nations. This strategy has so far
yielded dividends, as evidenced by my country’s showing on the UNDP
Human Development Report 2003.

In the education sector, our
goal is to achieve full enrollment well before the Millennium Declaration’s
target year of 2015. As of now, we have taken the gross enrolment rate
from 44%, eight years ago, to over 90% today! We have at the same time,
increased non-formal, adult and distance education programmes throughout
the country. The net result has been a dramatic drop in illiteracy, nationwide.
Transition rates from primary to secondary levels have been significantly
improved from 12% fifteen years ago to over 77% today. Six years ago,
there were hardly any tertiary level institutions to speak of. Today,
they abound and include a new University of The Gambia. This has been
made possible, Mr. President, by the visionary leadership provided by
H.E. Alhaji Dr. Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh, President of the Republic of The
Gambia.

Recognising the important role
women play in the family, in the community and in the nation, my Government
has sought to pay special attention to the empowerment of our womenfolk
through education, training and special income-generating projects. In
order to increase opportunities for the girl-child in the educational
system, we have created a Trust Fund entitled “The President’s
Empowerment of Girls’ Education Project” to provide full scholarships
to girls who would otherwise not be able to go to school for lack of resources.
This and other measures geared towards assisting women, have helped to
close the gender gap in education in The Gambia.

Empowering the rural dweller
is another priority of my Government. We seek to do so through measures
that lead to an increase in access to resources, infrastructure, and services
– as well as to knowledge and skills. Most villages now have a primary
school and clusters of villages share secondary education facilities.

Our efforts have also been
geared towards the improvement of the health of our people. Significantly
improved child health care, especially through an extensive and comprehensive
immunization programme, has contributed immensely towards a considerable
reduction of infant mortality in the last few years. Infant mortality
rates have been reduced by one-third. Primary health care programmes have
been strengthened across the board. Overall access to health facilities
and services have equally been greatly improved with the construction
of hospitals, health centers, clinics and dispensaries throughout the
country.

Mr. President,

With all these achievements,
however we are humbled by the challenges that still remain. The prevalence
of diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and a host of respiratory illnesses,
is part of an unfinished agenda. Malaria in particular, remains a major
problem. It is the leading cause of mortality and a major cause of morbidity
among pregnant women, contributing to anemia and low birth weight. Today,
with the cooperation of a Cuban medical and health team, The Gambia is
now No. 1 in Africa as far as the Malaria Control Programme is concerned.

In the area of agriculture,
our objective is to achieve a total transformation of the sector. Our
priority is to reduce the drudgery of production and increase productivity
through a systematic programme of mechanization. Added to this, is our
bid to reduce our dependence on rain-fed methods of production, in favour
of greater irrigation, using the abundant water resources that The Gambia
River and its tributaries provide. A third plank of our programme of empowerment
in the agriculture sector, is to diversify activities away from the traditional
crops, by placing greater emphasis on food production as well as on other
non-traditional crops for export. Finally, with all of these objectives
already well on the road to success, we are beginning to increase market
access, both locally and abroad, for our producers.

Mr. President,

Attaining the Millennium Development
Goals would depend to a large extent, on how well poor countries perform
in the areas I have just referred to. It would also depend on how well
they themselves are empowered and made capable of performing, through
the requisite support measures from the international community. The United
Nations system as a whole can be mobilized further to broker such support
for poor countries, and especially for those among them that show promise
and positive signs of progress.

Mr. President,

My Government has been increasing
its efforts to deepen democracy and strengthening good governance in The
Gambia. In this, our intent is to continuously bring improvements to the
performance of all arms of government. Our multi-party democratic system
forms the backbone of our political dispensation. We continue to conduct
free and fair elections at all levels of popular representation. Our courts
operate independently. And we have encouraged the mass media to grow and
expand, with increasingly higher levels of private participation. The
international community must have been satisfied with our efforts and
achievements in this domain, when the World Economic Forum, meeting in
South Africa, decided to classify The Gambia third in Africa, for our
performance on good governance. We are indeed honoured by this recognition,
and feel encouraged in our resolve to do even better.

Mr. President,

Advances in information and
communication technology have come to make our world a truly global village.
This is indeed remarkable. However, we must not lose sight of the fact
that even in this area there is a great deal of “catching up”
which the developing world has to undergo. Global initiatives geared towards
bridging the digital divide between the developed and developing worlds
should be pursued with unrelenting vigour.

Scientific and technological
research must be conducted in support of the essence of life. In the course
of this year, we have heard several claims as to the successful cloning
of human embryos. These claims, whether genuine or not, are indeed a wake-up
call for all of humanity. The international community must close ranks
to address them in a manner that ensures that no one is allowed –
for whatever reason - to tinker with science and technology in ways that
may upset or threaten nature’s fragile balance.

Mr. President,

The phenomenon of illegal,
unregulated and unreported fishing remains a challenge to coastal African
states such as The Gambia. It has generated enormous concern at the international
level as is evident from the adoption of various international instruments
to combat it. My delegation would like to express its gratitude to the
Governments of Japan and Luxembourg and the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) for the assistance they provide to our fisheries sector, and fully
endorse the Secretary-General’s recommendation that technical and
financial assistance to developing countries for the conservation and
management of fisheries resources should be provided in a comprehensive
manner. We call for greater assistance and cooperation in our efforts
to promote sustainable practices in the fisheries sector of our economies.

Mr. President,

On the crucial topic of United
Nations Reform, my delegation welcomes the efforts aimed at the revitalization
of the General Assembly and the reform of the Security Council. After
more than a decade, little progress has been made in our attempts to reform
the Security Council so that it is truly reflective of the realities of
the international system in the twenty-first century. My Government reiterates
its stance – indeed the stance of the entire African region - that
the composition of the Security Council has to be revamped and democratized.
Membership of the Council must be expanded with Africa occupying at least
two permanent seats and five non-permanent seats. We therefore wholeheartedly
support the timely proposal of the Secretary-General to establish a High
Level Panel of Eminent Personalities to make concrete recommendations
on the reform of the organization.

Mr. President,

As we move into the business
of this 58th Session of the General Assembly, my delegation prays that
the Almighty Allah crowns our endeavours with success. We pray that this
session proves to be the turning point in our efforts to render the United
Nations more relevant, more effective and truly all-inclusive. We pray
that at this session, any doubts as to the utility of the UN to each and
every one of us, be put to rest once and for all. And we pray that by
this session’s closing, we shall all have emerged, secure in our
conviction that only through a fuller recourse to the United Nations,
shall we expect to have our global problems of conflict, peace and security,
and indeed development, frontally addressed, fully contained and completely
resolved.